Beauty and the Beast Rewritten
by Mystique Mayhem
Summary: Rated T For Violence and Mild Sexual Jokes and Situations...   Beauty in the Beast, written in a different way.  Characters used from the Disney Beauty and the Beast Movie, and some ideas used from the original Grimm Tale, "The Singing, Soaring Lark"
1. Prologue

_**Prologue – Crimson**_

_ A long time ago, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a very powerful and very privileged royal family. They had many servants, and they were all very loyal, and very hospitable. The queen was known for her beauty and her grace, and the king was known for his kindness and charitable nature. Their son, the prince, was neither kind, nor graceful, nor charitable, but he stole the hearts of any girl who looked upon him, for he was the most handsomest prince in all the land. However, his heart was cold, and he was selfish. In his mind, only he came first. He never saw any interest in any girl, no matter how many suitable girls he would meet from ball after ball after ball. Still, the king and queen took no notice of his behavior, believing in vain that he would eventually grow out of it once he reached adulthood._

_ When the young prince was almost sixteen, a sickness befell the royal family. The prince was lucky enough to survive, but unfortunately the king and queen fell ill and did not make it through. The prince was left orphaned, and had to assume his place as the rightful heir to the throne._

_ The month before his coronation, his servants and advisers helped him to train as the future king. But the prince didn't want to pay attention, he wanted to do as he pleased—hunting and horsing around with his friends. A few days before his coronation, his advisers were about to give up. _

_ Their real troubles started when the night before Christmas came upon them. On this night, an old beggar-woman came to the castle doors, and asked for protection form the bitter cold. In exchange, she would give him a beautiful red rose._

_ Disgusted by her haggard appearance, the prince tried to send her away. But she warned him to not be deceived by appearances, because beauty is often found within. Yet again he told her to go away and closed the castle doors in her face. _

_ And so, the old-woman's ugliness melted away and she turned into a beautiful enchantress. She opened the doors and the prince saw what he had done. He begged for her forgiveness, but the enchantress knew that there was no love or kindness in his heart, so as punishment, she turned him into a horrible beast._

_ "If you can learn to love, and have someone love you in return by your twenty-first year, then the spell will be broken. However, if you cannot, you will forever stay a beast and learn what it is like to be shunned for your appearances to others."_

_ The enchantress not only cast a spell on the prince, but on the servants, the advisers and his extended family all living in the castle as well. She gave him the rose, which was also enchanted. It would bloom for the next five years, and if he did not learn to love by the time the last petal fell, he and the inhabitants of his castle will remain in their new forms for all time._

_ He locked himself away in his castle and never stepped foot outside, ashamed of his new beastly form. He was at a loss of what to do and grieved for many nights. He soon gave up all hope by the time four years had passed, and accepted his fate. For he only had one more year before he and his subjects would be doomed to live in the world as outcasts. The spell would never be broken...for who could ever love a beast?_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Belle was the youngest in a family of four, which consisted of her father and two older sisters. She and her sisters were all very beautiful, but Belle was the most beautiful of them all, as her namesake. The eldest sister, Dianna, had flowing golden hair and beautiful brown eyes, but her lips were too thin and not very inviting. The middle child, Janette, had beautiful green eyes and any man would be lucky enough to kiss her warm, plump limps, but her dark hair was rarely brushed for she detested the very practice, and it had far too many uneven ends because of her failed attempts at cutting it, and would usually be bundled up in a messy bun because nothing else would do.

But Belle's long mahogany brown hair was always evenly brushed, and her blue eyes made you melt like you were in a dream. Her skin was creamy and looked like that of a porcelain doll, and her lips were as red and warm as blood. Unlike her sisters, she didn't like going into town, and would much prefer spending her time cooped up in her room with a good book or tending to the animals on their farm. She didn't mind the solitude—in fact, she reveled in it. She didn't have to worry about the silly chitter-chatter of the townsfolk and she never got caught up in their gossip—but what she didn't know was that she was the talk of the town, and was often the subject of their gossip.

It was not because she was ill-behaved or had some sort of scandalous escapades. It was simply due to her remarkable beauty. She had no need to paint her face or wear elaborate fashionable dresses. She could wear rags and still look as striking as a setting sun.

Belle was peculiar to the townspeople. She hardly spoke to anyone, and the only time she came into town was when she picked up bread at the bakery or borrowed a new book from the library. Whenever she was nearby, people couldn't help but be awed by her presence. But everyone could agree that she just didn't quite fit in.

Especially Maurice, her father. Father was an eccentric inventor-to-be, who always had some crazy scheme to create a contraption what would make life easier for him and his three daughters. Not that they weren't thankful for what they had—they were a middle class family and didn't have to work too hard to put food on the table. Maurice was seen as a quack and a hopeless scientist who should stick to reading the bible rather than go on and talk about mechanics. But still, he didn't let their criticisms get him down.

Maurice noticed that his youngest child, Belle, was sought after by almost every boy in the village. He lost count how many proposals had been made to her and how many peole he had to turn down, because he knew he couldn't give them his blessing. He knew that Belle had no interest in just any old boy in town. Call her picky if you like, but she was just bored of seeing the same old qualities in every boy. She wanted something different. Why deny his daughter the right to her own wishes?

"Fill me up some more, dearest Gertrude!" Maurice, Belle's father bellowed. He was spending another evening in the tavern after yet another failed attempt at his Cutting-Wood contraption. "Make it a big, hearty glass."

Gertrude, the tavern wench who had seen better days, shook her head in distaste. Sweat beaded down her face as she scurried over to refill Maurice's glass. He smelled of cheap liquor and of intense body odor from the day's work, but he didn't give a damn if he didn't bathe for another month or two, not until he finished his invention.

"_Monsieur _Maurice," Gertrude said, leaned over the table, with her breast resting on the counter. "Did you hear? About Gaston?"

"Gaston? Who's he?" said Maurice, his version blurring with every sip he drank.

"Gaston is new to town, Maurice," said Gertrude, licking her lips and dreamily putting her plump hands over her bodice. "He is the talk of the town, much like your daughter."

"Like my daughter? She's always the talk of the town. I've never even heard of the Gaston fellow."

Gertrude looked at him coolly. "Well, I'm certain that you will meet him very soon. Word on the street is he's taken a liking to Miss Belle."

"Well, _I'm_ certain this Gasto-whas-his-name will get his heart broken. My daughter won't fall for any old pretty boy in town, and he's not the first newcomer to this town either."

Gertrude couldn't help but laugh. "Gaston isn't any old pretty-boy, Maurice. In fact, I wouldn't even call him boy. He's more of a _man_, you see. He's twenty-two, you know."

"Feh. A man is defined by what he has accomplished in life. What has this fellow accomplished?"

Gertrude leaned on her elbow, ready to go off on a long rant. "Well, where to start? He's an exceptional marksman, and has collected the heads of many criminals, and because of that he is well off in money, due to the rewards for the heads of those criminals. He's also quite good at hunting—he's trained quite a few bloodhounds and has many, many pelts—most of his furniture is decorated with antlers. Not to mention, his height is nothing to sneeze at. He's six-feet and five inches tall, and his muscles are quite large. I'd say he's around two-hundred and ten pounds, and that's certainly _not_ from fat."

Maurice rubbed his chin. "Sounds like quite a man."

"A man indeed." Gertrude nodded.

"Belle is sixteen, after all..." Maurice said, pondering it a bit longer. "It's about time I find her someone to spend her life with."

"That's the spirit, Maurice." Gertrude licked her lips. "Let me know if you need help."

Maurice rolled his eyes at her and took one last swig of his beer before heading out to ask the whereabouts of this Gaston person.


End file.
